Post-9/11 radio system faces budget chopping block

The House and the Senate spending plans would slash up to $100 million for the Justice Department's Integrated Wireless Network

By Shaun Waterman The Washington Times

WASHINGTON — A key post-Sept. 11 security priority is on the federal budget chopping block — hand-held radios that allow officers from different law enforcement agencies to talk to each other.

The House and the Senate spending plans would slash up to $100 million for the Justice Department's Integrated Wireless Network (IWN), which would replace the mismatched radios that were in use during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.